The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz--The Tragic Fall of Duddy

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz--The Tragic Fall of Duddy

A man must pursue his dreams. This is certainly true for everyone of

the humankind, for if there were no dreams, there would be no reason to

live. Duddy Kravitz understands this perfectly, that is why he is one

of the most ambitious young men of his time. From the moment he hears

his grandfather says, "A man without land is nobody," he is prepared to

seek the land of his dream -- no matter what the cost would be. This

ambition of his is very respectable, but unfortunately his methods are

damnable. Duddy is a relentless pursuer; a formidable competitor and

also a ruthless manipulator. It is true that he has obtained all the

land that he desires at the end, but he succeeds through immoral,

despicable and contemptible means. It is clear then, that Duddy has

failed in his apprenticeship and has become the "scheming little

bastard" that Uncle Benjy has warned him against.

There is no doubt that Duddy is very shrewd and clever, but his lack of

moral principles attributes to his final failure. In fact, his

immorality can be traced back to a very young age. During his study in

the parochial school, he already earns money through methods that hardly

comply to virtues of any kind. Taking advantage of the fact that minors

cannot be sued in Canada, Duddy defrauds stamp companies and sells

stolen hockey sticks. Perhaps he cannot distinguish right from wrong;

perhaps he does not care, but nonetheless it is not proper for him to

engage himself into these kinds of activities.

Duddy emerges himself deeper into the sea of corruption when he

establishes Dudley Kane Enterprises. With his limited knowledge of

movie making and his mistaken trust in John Friar, his firm produces

bar-mitzvah films of extremely poor quality. The bar-mitzvah film for

Mr. Cohen, for example, is obviously a failing product. "Duddy didn’t

say a word all through the screening but afterwards he was sick to his

stomach." After the screening, Duddy says to Mr. Friar, "I could sell

Mr. Cohen a dead horse easier than this pile of --." However,

realizing the obvious faultiness of the film, Duddy does not talk

candidly to his client. Instead, he untruthfully says that the film is

a phenomenal piece of art and that he is entering it into the Cannes

Festival. By doing so, he deceives the Cohen family into buying...

... middle of paper ...

...of land: "Duddy

took a quick look at Virgil’s bank balance, whistled, noted his account

number and ripped out two cheques. He forged the signature by holding

the cheque and a letter Virgil had signed up to the window and tracing

slowly." This is a clear indication that Duddy has chosen to become

the inconsiderate "scheming little bastard". He has murdered all the

other good possibilities of himself.

Duddy has obviously chosen the wrong kind of man to be. He has chosen

to become a crooked person, a corrupted chap, and a ruthless man.

Undoubtedly, Duddy is a very keen and intuitive young man. He can

calmly and gracefully settle Lennie’s problems with Mr. Calder. He can

also tactfully and intelligently get Aunt Ida going back to Montreal to

see the dying Uncle Benjy. Duddy has all the qualities that is needed

for him to succeed in society -- it is only a matter of time.

Unfortunately, Duddy chooses the wrong path at a young age and continues

on with that path to his adulthood. He ends up to be a terrible

failure. Perhaps his lack of discipline from his early years is one of

the most important attributes to his tragic fall in The Apprenticeship

of Duddy Kravitz.